


Benevolent Possesion

by Frosted-Soil (Jackson_Overland_Frost)



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: /attempted mugging, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Episode: Louis Le Prince Q+A, Gen, Guns, I didn’t put the non-con as a warning bc it doesn’t actually happen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Inspired by Venom (Movie 2018), Knives, Mentions of possesion, Mugging, Murder, No Beta We Just Die. That’s It., Serial Killers, Supernatural Elements, Vigilantism, and Ricky & Ryan dynamic, and it doesn’t happen to either of our boys, and it’s not described in any detail, but I swear most of it is banter, but please! Heed yourself!, the tags make it sound super dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:35:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25322485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jackson_Overland_Frost/pseuds/Frosted-Soil
Summary: “Sorry, sometimes I gotta suppress him down.” Or, Ryan and Ricky are in the same body, and have very different hobbies. READ THE TAGS!Very blatantly inspired by this tumblr post: https://ernmark.tumblr.com/post/178953664460/one-of-the-things-venom-did-very-well-that-im
Relationships: Ricky Goldsworth & Shane Madej, Ryan Bergara & Ricky Goldsworth, Ryan Bergara & Shane Madej, shyan only if your mind trends that way already
Comments: 14
Kudos: 86
Collections: Buzzfeed Unsolved: Killers and Criminals, Buzzfeed Unsolved: Supernatural Beings





	Benevolent Possesion

“Now — you may not be aware of this, but every now and then, um, I think you sort of black out and become someone named Ricky Goldsworth,” Shane said. 

_ Play dumb! _ Thought Ryan. “Who’s Ricky Goldsworth?” He asked.  _ Not that dumb, you idiot! _

Thankfully, Shane seemed to think it was part of their bit. “I know, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to you. What if you also sometimes black out and become this other person who is a back-up dancer for Bruno Mars?”

_ Shit shit shit shit shit shit SHIT _ , he thought to himself, trying to discreetly take a deep breath. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ryan said nervously. 

Shane turned and faced the camera. “Troubling!”

Suddenly, Ryan felt Ricky shove his way into control of their body. “Keep your mouth shut, Long Legs,” he said, as Ryan panicked in the background of his own mind and Shane pretended to look around nervously. Thankfully, Ricky gave Ryan control again to finish the “bit” and so that they could read the next question. 

As soon as they finished shooting, Ryan hurriedly excused himself to the bathroom. He could see the worry on Shane’s face, and tried to give him a reassuring glance on his way out of the room. The first restroom that he checked had people in it, and he had to go upstairs in order to find an empty one. He grabbed the sink counter with both hands so that he could stare into his reflection in the mirror. 

“Take our hands off that, Bergara. It’s disgusting.” Ricky looked exactly like Ryan, but his eyes were colder and he was barely looking back through the mirror at him. His reflection hadn’t been his own for ages, but it still unsettled Ryan not to see himself in the mirror, even if Ricky looked exactly like him. Even so, it was convenient to actually be able to talk to the freeloader in his body, instead of just frantically thinking at him. “Is that what our hair looks like? Use a goddamn comb, Doppelganger.”

“Fucking parasite,” Ryan muttered under his breath, knowing that Ricky would hear him, but ran his fingers through his hair anyways. “It doesn’t even matter, I’m wearing a hat today anyways.”

“You wouldn’t have to if you actually took the time to make us look halfway decent.”

Ryan stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Whatever. What the hell was that shit with Shane?  _ On camera _ , no less.”

Ricky shrugged. “Either my threat works and he stops asking so many goddamn questions, or he finds out and helps you keep me on the down-low. Either one is a win for me. Better go back as see which one it is, huh?”

“Freeloader.” Ryan turned away from his reflection and started back downstairs to the set, where he knew Shane would be waiting for him. “And what if he decides that I’m insane and we get sent to some mental hospital, huh?” 

He couldn’t see the other man anymore, but he could sense that Ricky was smirking. “ **Then I’ll break us out, obviously.** ”

  
  
  
  


Shane was, of course, waiting for him. Just as Ryan had expected. And still with that concerned look on his face, as well.

Ryan shuffled up to him sheepishly. “Hey Shane, sorry about hurrying off like that,” he said. His hands were cold, and he eyed the inexplicable temptation of Shane’s side for a short moment. 

“No worries, little guy. You okay though?” Shane’s arm came up to wrap around Ryan’s shoulders as they walked out of the room together, heading towards the couches where they usually ate lunch with their friends. Even though Ryan couldn’t see his face anymore, he could still feel the concern radiating off of his friend. 

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine,” he said. “I kinda had to go to the bathroom during that entire shoot, but I didn’t want to run off in the middle of anything.”

Finally, Shane untensed and laughed, though his arm remained around Ryan’s shoulders. Ryan wasn’t complaining or anything though — he was still a bit chilly from talking to Ricky, and was continually resisting the urge to lean further into Shane. Then they approached the table, and Steven stood up to greet them, and the topic was dropped. 

  
  
  
  


Later that night, Ryan paced back and forth in front of the mirror on his bedroom wall while Ricky sat on the bed in the reflection. His posture was as perfect as always, and despite his ever-present cold stare, he looked bored. “Doppelganger, hurry up and finish your crisis so that we can go out. I swear I picked an approved target this time.”

“No!” Ryan almost shouted. He winced at his own volume, and then continued in a more subdued voice. “I don’t care if your fucking target is  _ approved _ , we can’t keep doing this! What if someone finds out? What if  _ Shane finds out _ ?” He flopped backwards onto his bed, actually mirroring Ricky for a split second before falling onto his back. 

Because he was no longer seeing his reflection, Ricky’s voice sounded in his head instead. “ **Is** **_this_ ** **the reason we aren’t going hunting tonight? Besides, I seriously doubt he would care if he did find out.** ”

“What are you talking about!?” Ryan vaulted back up to face the mirror. “It’s fucking  _ murder _ , of course he would care!” 

The Ricky in the mirror raised an eyebrow and Ryan’s mind filled with images from the Ken Rex McElroy episode, specifically Shane’s reactions. He sighed and laid back on the bad again, closing his eyes. “Yeah, well not all your victims are like that.”

Ryan could physically  _ feel _ the eyeroll Ricky was giving him. “ **But this one is, hence the ‘being approved’ aspect. Are you done freaking out yet, Bergara? I’m getting impatient.** ” 

Sighing again, — why was he sighing so much tonight? — He swung himself up to standing, and grabbed what he had dubbed his “murder jacket” as he left his bedroom. It was nice, brown leather, and he used to wear it on ghost hunts before it was unofficially claimed by Ricky. He would have continued to wear it anyways, out of spite, but then the other had gotten a bloodstain in it that  _ just wouldn’t come out _ . Nothing too conspicuous, but Shane or TJ or someone would have spotted it for sure, considering how much time they all spent together while shooting. After that, he sort of handed the controls over to Ricky so that their hair could be fixed to “the other guy’s” apparently exacting standards.

Once they were out on the street, Ryan stopped dissociating as much and began actually being aware of what his body was doing. The cold stare and otherwise emotionless face, the posture, as so on. “ _ So, _ ” he asked mentally. “ _ Do I get to know who your victim is tonight? What they’ve done for this to have been coming to them? _ ”

No part of Ricky’s expression changed, nor did his mouth move, but Ryan could hear him speak as well as if they had been standing next to each other in an empty room. “ **A serial rapist. No kills, mostly younger girls. He chooses well — mostly those who are known to seek attention, or known to lie often, or those not liked well by parents, teachers, peers. So, probably a stalker as well.** ” 

If he could, Ryan would have physically recoiled. He was against murder as a whole, but this time Ricky really did have a point; he couldn’t say that the man didn’t have it coming to him. Not to mention, if they had gone through the justice system instead, he may have even come out relatively unscathed. Ryan was convinced, and Ricky knew it, the asshole. Still, he protested out of principle alone. “ _ You can’t just kill people though, Goldsworth! Removing people from existence is a huge thing!” _

Ricky laughed out loud to himself, drawing some weird stares from the people around. “ **Exactly, Doppelganger! Rapists add nothing to the world and only take. They are scum who need to be removed from the earth in order to cleanse it of evil. You should be pleased, Bergara — after all, we’re really just two sides of the same coin, are we not? You make the world better by adding joy through your little internet show, and I make it better by clearing away the filth.** ” As the hunter spoke, Ryan noticed that they were walking further downtown, but didn’t recognize where they were anymore. He wondered how Ricky had left the part of the city Ryan was familiar with so quickly. 

After some time, Ryan thought at Ricky again, not bothering to respond to the other’s dramatic monologue. “ _ So, Goldsworth. Where are we going, exactly? _ ”

“ **You wanna know, Bergara? Whatever happened to your precious plausible deniability?** ” Ryan tried to frown and cross his arms, forgetting that he wasn’t in control over his own body. He could physically  _ sense _ Ricky smirking at him smugly. 

“ _ Ugh, whatever. Asshole. _ ” 

It didn’t seem to matter anyways. After some time, Ricky’s walking got less purposeful, and he began simply wandering, peering systematically down alleyways. “ **I wasn’t able to pinpoint an exact location for him, but all of his targets so far have been in this area. It should be a prime night for the scum to be out, so our prey will certainly be caught before the night is over.** ”

“ _ Your prey, not mine, _ ” Ryan grumbled in the back of his head, but didn’t otherwise protest. It was nice to relax in his own body, really, even if the person controlling it was a serial killer. If he pretended hard enough, it was a bit like watching a movie in full VR. 

Out of nowhere, piercing in the mostly quiet evening, came a scream from somewhere nearby, rapidly cut off. Ricky gave no dramatic reaction, but Ryan could feel him perk up and his feet finally choose a direction and purpose. Ryan couldn’t tell where the scream had come from, but Ricky led them just down the street to an alleyway. This close, anyone could hear the panting and muffled noises and then assume that whatever was happening wasn’t something they would want to mess with. He scrunched himself into the back of his own mind and held as still as he could, tried to influence Ricky as littlest possible and handed any control he was still exerting.

Ricky walked into the alley and assessed the situation in a fraction of a second, before he was even noticed. The target hadn’t even gotten his pants down yet, and one of his hands was covering the girl’s mouth, the other holding a knife and pressing on her chest to hold her down. Her hands were tied, and her blue dress was hiked up. 

“Let her go.” 

The man whipped around to see who had caught him, but immediately sneered. He uncovered her mouth and ducked his hand into his jacket in order to brandish a pistol at them. “Bad idea, idiot. Get outta here and keep your mouth shut and you won’t get hurt.”

Within a moment, Ricky stepped forward and yanked the man’s arm forward, keeping out of the gun’s line of action, and physically pulled him off the girl. When she began to scramble back and the knife was no longer any real danger, he ripped the gun out of the man’s grasp and shot him in the arm without hesitation. The shot made him drop the knife himself as he screamed, and Ricky grinned. 

“I don’t think you heard me,” he said, stomping on the bullet wound with the heel of his boot. Ryan winced — hopefully Shane wouldn’t notice another stain on his ghost-hunting boots. “I told you to let her go.” 

When the man screamed louder, Ricky moved his foot to his neck, not hard enough to break it, but firmly enough to keep him from screaming. Then he shot him in the other arm while the man below him tried to gasp for breath. Of course, he did not succeed. Ricky eyed the girl who was curled away from them and watching the proceedings with wide eyes. She couldn’t have been older than sixteen. Ryan wouldn’t be happy with him later if he had more than his allotted amount of fun and traumatized the girl more than he had to or than she would have been otherwise. With a sigh, he turned back to the man and stepped back from him. Before he could scramble away too far, even with both of his arms out of commission, Ricky shot him right in between the eyes and killed him instantly. The brain splatter only just missed their shoes, and he smiled in satisfaction. Then, he turned to the girl. 

“The name’s Ricky Goldsworth, it’s been a true pleasure working with you.” And he faded back to let Ryan take over. 

  
  
  
  


Ryan blinked to clear his vision of the red haze, and focused on the girl, who was still staring.  _ “Dramatic bastard _ ,” he thought to himself. “Uh, hey there. Are you okay? Of course you aren’t, what am I saying, you just went through some shit. Do you, uh, need someone to walk you home, or anything? Or I can call someone to pick you up for you, if you want?” He ran his fingers through his hair, musing Ricky’s meticulous work, and let that ground him. “I have to go soon, before anyone shows up, but I don’t feel that great just leaving you here.”

She shakily handed him her phone, unlocked. “Can you, uh, call the contact labeled ‘Mom’ for me? I can’t press the screen very well.”

He took it, relieved, and quickly went through her contacts. The phone rang twice before the person on the other side picked up. Strangely enough, the voice couldn’t have been much older than the girl herself. “ALYSSA! Thank god, we’ve been looking all over for you, where are you? Where have you been?”

“Hey Lillian,” Alyssa said weakly. “Can you come pick me up please?”

“Of course, Aly, where are you?”

Alyssa nodded at him, so Ryan brought the phone back to himself. “Um, hello. I found your dau— um, Alyssa? in an alley across from—” he looked across the street, “uh, El Pavo Bakery? On...” 

“ **West 7th Street** ,” Ricky informed him. 

“On west 7th street. There was a man bleeding out on the ground as well, when I found her, and she seems pretty shaken. I was going to call the police as well, but I though that it was more important for your, uh, friend to be safe around someone she knew as soon as possible. I was going to stay with her until you arrived, if you—?”

The girl on the phone seemed relieved. “Thank you so much, I’ll be there in like ten minutes. Stay until I get there, please. I have to thank you in person.”

  
  
  
  


Lillian arrived in seven minutes, and practically ran out of her car towards them. Alyssa had her phone back, and Ryan was leaning awkwardly against the wall scrolling through Twitter as he pretended he wasn’t having a mental conversation with someone in his head. He hadn’t actually called the police after Lillian hung up so that she could focus on driving, and Alyssa either hadn’t noticed or hadn’t cared. 

“Oh my god, Aly!  _ Oh my god, he’s DEAD _ .” She immediately rushed to Alyssa’s side and couched down, grabbing one of her hands with both of her own. “What happened? Are you okay?” 

By now, Alyssa had stopped shaking so much, but was still sitting on the dirty ground, her legs now crossed. “He tried to rape me,” she said matter-of-factly. Both Ryan and Lillian visibly winced, but Ricky reminded Ryan that she was probably still in shock. She continued: “This other man came in and pried him off of me and then shot him. He said his name was Ricky, or something, but then this guy showed up to investigate and I didn’t get a good look at him before he ran off.” 

“Oh. My god, Aly.” She spun around to stare at Ryan, who flinched. “Did you call the police?” She demanded. 

Suddenly, Alyssa spoke back up. “He was going to, but I asked him not to until we were gone, so he didn’t.” She glanced up at him with an unreadable expression. 

“ **I like her,** ” Ricky commented in his head. “ **Like I said, that scumbag would always choose a particular kind of girl. They have no more fondness for the cops than I do.** ”

“If you two don’t want to stay around while I call the cops, then I won’t bother.” Ryan couldn’t help but regret how far from his original morals he was straying, but he supposed that some things required it. Really, he would have expected Shane to be the first one of the ghoul boys to go morally gray, though. “If I call now while the body’s fresh and neither of you are around, I’ll automatically be the top suspect. I would prefer for you two to be safe, and also to go to sleep at a reasonable time and be at work tomorrow morning, instead of going to a police station when it’s already...” he checked his watch. “Um, half past eleven at night.”

The two girls both visibly relaxed. “Thank you,” Lillian said with a grateful smile. “That would be perfect, actually. Come on Aly.” She helped Alyssa to her feet and walked her towards the car. “Are you okay to go to your house, or do you wanna come over? I can let my mom know, and she can call your’s.” 

“Your place please.” Alyssa shot one last look at Ryan before getting into the car. He looked blankly at them, and watched the car pull away. Once it had turned the corner, he replaced the safety on the gun, and pocketed it along with the knife. It was a nice one — Benchmade, expensive. Couldn’t let something useful like that go to the cops. Then, he brushed his sides and let Ricky start walking them home. There was no more blood on his clothes, and all in all, it was one of their cleaner kills. 

  
  
  
  


However, instead of leading them back towards their apartment, Ricky started taking them farther downtown as his hands found their way into his pockets. 

“ _ Ricky, where are you taking us? _ ” He asked as he let the killer take the controls back from him. 

“ **No funny business this time,** ” Ricky told him. “ **Indulge me just this once; I have a bad feeling about something.** ”

Ryan would say that he didn’t trust Ricky as far as he could throw him, but considering he regularly entrusted his actual physical body to the guy and could actually throw himself pretty far— you know what, he was just going to stop with the metaphor. So against his better judgement, he let Ricky guide him along until they came upon a street near Shane’s apartment. 

“ _ What the hell? Why are we here? _ ”

“ **Shut up, Bergara.** ” Ricky looked around. “ **You wouldn’t like what’s up with this place.** ” It seemed to Ryan that Ricky didn’t like whatever he was talking about either, which was frankly more cause for worry than whatever the hunter was actually saying. 

“ _ That guy is giving me some bad vibes _ ,” Ryan offered. He could feel Ricky scoff, but they turned to look anyways. That was the rule, the payback if-you-will. Ryan went along with Ricky’s ‘bad feeling’, and now Ricky had to go along with his, even if he thought it was absolute bullshit. It wasn’t bullshit this time though, and as they turned to look, the guy Ryan had pointed out hurried down the street to intercept Shane as he walked back towards his apartment, probably coming back from one of his late-night runs. 

“ **Not just one guy, Doppelgänger.** ” Ryan refocused to where Ricky was looking, towards two more men that were following, both a ways behind both Shane and the first man Ryan had spotted. They were clearly torn between acting casual and being sneaky — one of them ducked into the shadows of every alleyway, and the other sauntered confidently, fidgeting with something in his coat pocket. “ **He’s the one with the gun** ,” Ricky said once Ryan noticed as well. “ **The other one will probably try and keep Long Legs from escaping.** ”

Shane glanced around, his gaze visibly pausing on the man following him. After knowing him for so long, Ryan could identify the symptoms of Shane’s nerves easily enough; the wide eyes, hands in and out of his pockets as if cold, but wanting them out if necessary. His stride began to speed up, but he seemed reluctant to start running, for one reason or another. When his eyes turned towards them, Ricky automatically pulled Ryan into the shadow of an alleyway, where, thanks to their own dark clothing, Shane’s eyes skated right over them. 

They continued to watch as Shane got increasingly anxious, but didn’t step in. Ryan didn’t know how they would intercept the situation without Shane getting onto them about following him, not to mention he had no idea what the three men were planning on doing. Ricky, on the other hand, was apparently worked up again, and was casually trying to convince Ryan to kill all three. Without a motive though, Ryan wasn't about to approve anything, so Ricky was made to stare on even as he remained mostly in control. 

Then, Shane walked into one of the alleyways lining the street, a shortcut Ryan knew of that would have taken Shane to his apartment much faster. The man following him sped up his steps, quickly approaching Shane, before managing to corner him inside the alleyway. They could no longer see the other two men, so Ryan speed walked across the street to the alley, glancing inside. 

“ **He’s getting mugged, Doppelganger,** ” Ricky mentioned offhandedly. “ **For sure. You maybe want to speed up a bit?** ” 

Ryan did so, bursting into the alleyway with no small amount of dramatics — his coat billowing a little behind them, and one of Ricky’s trick-flips to bring the knife he had nabbed off that rapist from their pocket into their hand. Shane was being held at gunpoint by the man Ricky had indicated earlier. The man who had originally chased him into the alleyway was watching the situation, while the third rooted through Shane’s wallet and shoulder bag. 

The watching man saw him first. “STAY RIGHT THERE, OR HE’LL GET SHOT,” he immediately yelled, standing up and pulling out a gun of his own. 

Shane squinted at him before gasping. “Ryan? What the hell are you doing here?”

Ricky smiled, expertly throwing the knife into the gunman’s wrist, forcing him to drop the pistol as he cried out. With the other hand, he shot the bolt of the watcher’s gun, taking the entire trigger off, as well as part of the man’s finger. “I don’t think he will, actually. Hey there Long Legs, fancy seeing you here. Wrong name, unfortunately — don’t you recognize an old acquaintance?”

There was one last guy in the alleyway, and Ricky turned the gun on him without a thought, pointing it straight at his chest. “Hmm,” he hummed with a frown. “Why are you still here? You really shouldn’t be — it’s dangerous around these parts for people like you, ya know.” 

In an unusual show of intelligence and caution, the guy ran off after his friends as quickly as his legs could take him. 

“Ryan, what the fuck?” 

“Again, wrong name, Long Legs. Dont’cha remember me? We just spoke earlier today, I’m a little bit offended.” Ricky sauntered over to pick the knife up off the ground and flicked the blood off with his fingers as he waited for it to click in Shane’s mind. 

“Wait,  _ Ricky Goldsworth? _ This is  _ not _ the time for a bit, Ryan. Unless — dissociative identity disorder  _ is _ a thing, but I’m pretty certain this isn’t how it works. Ryan?”

Ricky obligingly tried to hand the controls back over to Ryan, who was freaking out over Shane and refused to take them. Shame. “No, nothing so medical as that, though I’m sure you would love to have one of your scientific explanations for my arrangement with my host, here.” He pursed his lips, skating the pad of his thumb over the edge of the knife, the touch just light enough not to cut. “You’ll keep this all quiet, won’t cha,  _ big guy _ ? Would really hate for something to happen to ya, really — ‘specially since I just went into all the trouble of saving you.” 

Upon noticing that Ricky was starting to threaten his best friend, which was a pretty dick move, Ryan calmed himself down enough to scramble for control again. 

_ Hey man, hey — no. Fucking freeloader, stop threatening Shane, this is  _ not _ part of the arrangement.  _ He scolded, trying to force his way to the front. 

**Well, I’m done with the guy anyways,** Ricky conceded, and withdrew. 

As soon as he was back in full control of his own body, Ryan also became able to feel the full extent of his situation. His panic also became more of a physical feeling, which he hadn’t even noticed until his breathing began to quicken and he basically bent in half, hands on his thighs. Although Shane had never truly connected the dots, he was still able to recognize the signs of Ryan switching back as he blinked rapidly to ground himself back in the physical world. Finally, he turned his eyes back on Shane, who smiled in relief at the familiar, scared look on Ryan’s face. 

“Hey, bermeister. You’re back?” He asked hopefully. 

“I feel like fucking shit,” Ryan told him honestly, wiping his hands on his pants without thinking. Then he noticed the red streaks he had left behind and groaned. “Geez, that’s gonna take ages to wash out. I better still have hydrogen peroxide at home or I swear I’m going to cry.” 

“Are you okay? You  _ look _ like you’re going to cry, like, soon.” When Ryan just continued to shake in response, Shane slowly wrapped him into a hug. “Hey little guy, come on. Talk to me, buddy. You wanna go back to my apartment and have a real conversation? You can crash on my couch if you want, it’s pretty late. Ry-guy, come on, you breathing okay? You just beat up a bunch of guys — or at least your body did, I guess — and it was pretty badass, so it makes sense if you’re kinda out of it, kay?” 

Ryan dragged his hand through his hair, going through a set of breathing exercises with a grimace.  _ Breath purple in, seven counts. Hold seven for the red to spread through your body. Seven to breathe blue back out. Repeat.  _ It was a mix of what he had read online and a little thing that had always helped him when he was freaking out as a kid. Ricky stayed thankfully quiet. 

“Uh, yeah, your apartment sounds great, Shane,” he finally answered. “You….. aren’t going to tell anyone, right? I know it sounds crazy but like, dude you gotta believe me.”

Shane rolled his eyes. “Conversation first, and you should probably shower so you like, aren’t covered in blood. I don’t really want what’s basically a knify-er version of Venom 2018 to knife me, or something, so I won’t snitch.”

“Shut up, Shane,” Ryan mumbled into his friend’s shoulder, and he was pretty sure that everything was going to end up okay. 

**Author's Note:**

> I was purposefully vague as to what Ricky is in this AU and what he’s doing in Ryan’s body, so feel free to decide for yourself. 
> 
> Please leave a comment, those are always highly appreciated! More highly appreciated than a cookie, in fact, which is high praise indeed.


End file.
